Summer of Learning

What a summer it's been at the community centre!

It's been a busy, warm, and genuinely joyful few months at the centre. From afternoon tea to pottery painting, from a food partnership that's changed our kitchen to a pizza party with a surprisingly competitive game of bingo — here's a look back at our summer of learning, community, and good food.

June: A Traditional PAR-TEA

We kicked things off in June with a PAR-TEA — a proper afternoon tea in the centre, complete with plenty of sandwiches and sweet treats. It was a simple idea with a big impact: a relaxed space for our community to sit down together, chat, and get to know one another over a cuppa.

July: Learning New Skills with Middlesbrough Council Community Learning

July brought two courses run in partnership with Middlesbrough Council Community Learning, covering very different ground.

Health & Wellbeing saw participants learn all about relaxation techniques, the benefits of different essential oils, and even try their hand at massage — practical skills people could take home and actually use.

Fakeaway was all about making the most of what's in the kitchen. Participants learned to recreate takeaway favourites from scratch, cooking up parmos, curry and rice, and tacos — proving that a night in doesn't mean missing out.

July: A New Partnership with Fareshare

Also in July, we were lucky enough to begin a partnership with Fareshare, who provide us with a steady supply of surplus food. It's meant we can put real quantities of good food to excellent use through our community kitchen, feeding local people — and it's dramatically reduced our food bill in the process.

It hasn't been without its challenges. When the first large delivery of surplus food arrived, it was, honestly, a little daunting. But our Session Leader, Emma rose to the occasion, using her creativity to expand the menu choices on offer at the centre and turn a big, unpredictable supply into genuinely great food for our community.

August: Confidence with Arts and Crafts

To round off our summer of learning, we welcomed Middlesbrough Council Community Learning back for two standalone Confidence with Arts and Crafts sessions on 18th and 25th August.

Everyone got stuck into sock puppet making, painting by numbers, and pottery painting — along with some really involved discussions about what different colours mean to us, and the feelings and emotions they can bring up. To celebrate, every participant was presented with a certificate of completion at the end of the two sessions.

Middlesbrough Council Community Learning have become regular, and very welcome, visitors to our centre this summer — we've loved having them.

August: Pizza Party and Bingo

We closed out the summer on Wednesday 26th August with a Pizza Party, made possible by the food we receive through our Fareshare partnership. On the menu: pizza, crispy chicken, homemade coleslaw, sandwiches, a fruit platter, and plenty of other treats besides.

After lunch, we turned things over to a bingo afternoon — excellent prizes, a brilliantly competitive atmosphere, and no shortage of tension as the numbers were called.

The whole afternoon was a real success, and it wouldn't have been possible without two things: the food surplus we receive from Fareshare, and our amazing team, Emma and Abbi, who continue to bring imagination, creativity, and enthusiasm to everything they cook — turning excellent meals into excellent moments for our community, day after day.

Looking Back

From a quiet afternoon tea in June to a lively pizza party and bingo afternoon in August, this summer has been about the same thing throughout: bringing people together, building new skills, and making the most of what we have — whether that's a kitchen full of surplus food or a room full of paint and pottery.

Thank you to Middlesbrough Council Community Learning and Fareshare for making so much of this possible, and to Emma and Abbi for feeding us all.